Behind on Profiling? What Apprentices Need to Know
If your Profiling entries are starting to pile up, you are not necessarily back at square one.
Electrical, air conditioning and refrigeration apprentices use workplace records to show the experience they are gaining on the job. Exemplar Profiling, commonly still called eProfiling, is one system used to capture that evidence, including the work completed, level of supervision and range of workplace activities.
But what happens if you forget a few weeks, your supervisor has not approved your cards, or your profile shows that you are missing experience in an important area?
What should I actually put in Profiling?
Your entries should reflect the work you genuinely completed on the job.
Exemplar Profiling records the breadth and range of your workplace experience, as well as the level of supervision or support you received. Your supervisor then verifies that record. Training organisations use the information as evidence of your on-the-job experience.
You need to answer the important question of what you actually did.
Depending on your trade, that could include activities such as installation, testing, fault finding, repair, commissioning or maintenance. Those types of activities form part of the national Certificate III qualifications for electricians and air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics.
How often should I update Profiling?
There is no single national rule requiring every apprentice to submit an Exemplar card on the same day each week. Your RTO’s requirements should be your first reference.
Exemplar itself tells apprentices to complete cards regularly and follow up on outstanding approvals.
In practice, completing your profiling weekly is one of the easiest ways to avoid problems. You are far more likely to remember what you did, who supervised you and how your time was divided between different tasks.
In Queensland, training records must be reviewed and updated at least every three months, and the Queensland Government specifically says eProfiling may be used as the training record for electrical apprentices. Workplace training entered into the system must be validated by a licensed tradesperson.
Can I backdate Profiling entries?
If you did the work but forgot to record it at the time, don’t invent an entry from memory.
Instead, reconstruct the work using records that already exist. Timesheets, job cards, work orders, site diaries, calendars and conversations with the tradesperson who supervised you can help establish what you actually did and when.
Exemplar cards include start and end dates, but whether an older entry will be accepted as sufficient workplace evidence is ultimately a matter for your RTO and supervisor. If you are catching up on a significant backlog, speak with your trainer before entering months of historical work.
While recording work late is OK, you must not create entries for work that never happened.
I’m months behind on Profiling. What should I do?
Start with the work you can verify.
- check your timesheets, roster or job records
- identify the sites and supervisors you worked with
- make a basic week-by-week list of the work completed
- enter the evidence you can accurately support
- ask your supervisor to review the outstanding cards
- contact your RTO if there are periods you cannot confidently reconstruct.
Avoid filling gaps with tasks you think you probably completed. Your workplace evidence is intended to be an accurate record and must be verified by your supervisor.
Can I make up Profiling tasks I’m missing?
You should not make up entries, but you can gain more experience.
If your profiling shows that you have very little experience in a particular work area, the solution is usually to get more exposure to that work. Raise the gap with your supervisor, employer or RTO. They may be able to organise different jobs or duties that give you an opportunity to develop and demonstrate those skills.
This is particularly important as your apprenticeship progresses. Spending months doing similar work can give you plenty of hours without necessarily giving you the breadth of experience required across your qualification.
In NSW, employers are specifically required to create workplace opportunities for apprentices to develop the skills contained in their Training Plan. Where workplace training cannot be provided as planned, the RTO and employer need to consider how the required training will be addressed.
How can I tell which Profiling areas I’m missing?
Exemplar’s Work Area Progress reporting is designed to show your progress based on approved workplace evidence and can help identify areas where you have had less exposure. The system can also compare progress against expected benchmarks.
If one section is noticeably behind the others, ask about it while there is still time to get that experience on site.
A profiling gap identified early is generally much easier to address than one discovered close to completion.
Why hasn’t my Profiling progress changed after I submitted a card?
Check whether the card has actually been approved.
Exemplar distinguishes between draft, submitted, rejected and approved cards. Its progress reporting is based on approved workplace evidence, so a card waiting for supervisor approval may not yet be reflected in your progress.
If several cards are sitting with your supervisor, follow them up rather than allowing the queue to grow.
What happens if my supervisor rejects a Profiling card?
A rejected card does not necessarily mean the work will not count. It means the supervisor has identified something in the entry that needs to be changed or clarified. Exemplar allows rejected cards to be edited and submitted again for approval.
Check the supervisor’s feedback before resubmitting it. The issue might be the activities selected, dates, hours, supervision level or another part of the entry.
What’s the quickest way to keep Profiling up to date?
The biggest time-saver is keeping a very small record before you open Exemplar.
At the end of the day, note four things on your phone:
- Site
- Tasks
- Hours
- Supervisor
You do not need to write the full profiling entry then and there. The aim is simply to leave yourself enough information to accurately complete it later. Then set aside one regular time each week to enter your cards.
Are Profiling requirements different in Victoria, Queensland, NSW and South Australia?
Yes. The qualifications are nationally recognised, but apprenticeship administration and licensing requirements differ between states. Your RTO and Training Plan determine exactly how your workplace evidence needs to be recorded.
Victoria: Profiling is particularly important for electrical apprentices approaching completion. If your schooling or profiling is incomplete when your training contract is due to finish, you may need to extend the contract.
Queensland: The Queensland Government specifically recognises eProfiling as a training record that may be used for electrical apprentices. Workplace training recorded through the system must be validated by a licensed tradesperson, and training records must be reviewed and updated at least every three months.
New South Wales: Apprentices work to an individual Training Plan covering formal and workplace training. Employers and supervisors must maintain evidence of workplace experience and competence as agreed with the RTO. NSW does not prescribe Exemplar as the only system that can be used for that purpose.
South Australia: Apprentices must also have an agreed Training Plan. Employers are required to retain records including on-job training, competency assessments and the type of work performed by the apprentice. The training provider monitors progress against the Training Plan.
For electrical and HVAC/refrigeration apprentices in any state, your RTO’s instructions should be the final reference if they differ from general advice about Exemplar Profiling.
Don’t Wait Until You Need to Catch Up
It’s useful to approach Profiling as a picture of what your apprenticeship currently looks like.
If your cards are sitting unapproved, follow them up. If you are behind, rebuild your entries from genuine records. And if your progress shows that you are repeatedly doing the same work while another area remains empty, raise it with your supervisor or RTO.
Note for FHR Apprentices: If you’re having trouble with your eProfiling, please reach out to your Field Officer right away. We can help you get back on track.